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BEIJING (AP) - The European Union on Friday asked the World Trade Organization to rule in a dispute over Chinese anti-dumping duties imposed on steel pipes imported from EU countries.

The EU said in a news release that it made the request to the WTO after unsuccessful consultations in July to resolve the dispute over the duties imposed by China on imports of high-performance stainless steel seamless tubes from EU countries.

"The EU continues its fight against unjustified Chinese trade defense measures, which do not comply with WTO rules and often seem to be motivated by retaliation," said EU Trade spokesman John Clancy in the statement.

But Beijing has said the duties would protect Chinese companies.

"This is not an act of retaliation but to protect the domestic steel trade," said analyst Zhang Lin in a statement posted on the official site of the Chinese Ministry of Commerce in June when the EU lodged a complaint with WTO.

The statement says China's steel products are often subject to anti-dumping investigations in overseas markets. "It is a reasonable and logical measure for hitting back," Zhang said.

China and the EU have been embroiled in a series of trade tiffs. A dispute over China's solar panels was defused in July after Chinese companies agreed to set minimum prices. Meanwhile, the Chinese commerce ministry spokesman Shen Danyang said last week that Beijing continued to investigate whether the EU has been dumping its wine and poly silicon products in China.